Ganesh Chaturthi: Traditional musical instruments continue to hit the right notes

A musical instruments shop at Lalbaug. Instruments such as tabla, dholki, mrudunga, ghumat and taal are mainly used during Ganesh Chaturthi. Pic/Shadab Khan

This might be the age of digital and electronic music, but traditional musical instruments still play a key role during Ganesh Chaturthi. Instruments such as tabla, dholki, mrudunga, ghumat and taal have remained an integral part of the Ganpati festival for years and are still going strong.

"The sale of traditional musical instruments and number of them coming for repair has remained constant for the past few years. This signifies that traditions will never die," a representative of Haribhau Vishwanath Company, a musical instruments store at Dadar, said. "The number of instruments brought in for repair as well as sale has increased significantly this year. The number of dholki and taal sold during Ganpati festival this season is higher as compared to the past few years," Ramchandra Kale of Shree Ramchandra Govind Kale Instruments, said.

One of the reasons for the popularity of the traditional instruments is the basic, their sound. "The music and rhythm generated by dholki and taal are incomparable to electronic or digital music. The sound just cannot be replicated as smoothly and easily. Also, being connected to our traditional roots is as important as being upgraded with the newest technologies. Instruments used during aarti and bhajan connect us to our classical music roots and traditions," said Jay Thakur, a Ganpati devotee and a traditional music instrument player.

"I have been playing traditional instruments for seven years. Though the octopad is used to play certain tones, the traditional instruments are more accurate. They can also be tuned according to the singer's tone," added Thakur.

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"Dhol and tasha are the key musical instruments always used at major public festivals. I feel incomplete if I don't play any of the traditional instruments during Ganapati festival. There are numerous dedicated musical groups that are experts in them. Traditional music instruments are used by almost every Sarvajanik Ganpati Mandal to promote this vibrant part of Maharashtrian culture," another musician who is also a devotee said.

Be careful of stingray and jellyfish bites during visarjan: BMC

The civic body on Wednesday appealed to people to guard themselves against the bites by sting ray and jellyfish during immersion of Lord Ganesh's idols in the sea. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with a set of guidelines asking citizens to be careful given the fish-bite incidents reported at seafronts in the recent past. "Be careful of sting rays, and jellyfish during Ganesh festival," the BMC said in a release.

Citizens should preferably carry out immersion of idols through lifeguards and other civic machinery deployed at Chowpatties or beaches, it said. The immersion of idols takes place on different days during the ten-day Ganesh festival. The civic body has urged citizens to ensure they wear proper clothes, use gumboots to avoid fish bites and strictly follow the instructions given by the administration through public announcement systems.